Rape as a War Tactic in the Rwandan Genocide - 2035 Words

â€Å"The sweetly sickening odor of decomposing bodies hung over many parts of Rwanda in July 1994: . . . at Nyarubuye in eastern Rwanda, where the cadaver of a little girl, otherwise intact, had been flattened by passing vehicles to the thinness of cardboard in front of the church steps,† (Deforges 6). The normalcy of horrible images like this one had cast a depressing gloom over Rwanda during the genocide, a time when an extreme divide caused mass killings of Tutsi by the Hutu. Many tactics such as physical assault or hate propaganda are well known and often used during times of war. Sexual assault and rape, however, during times of war is an unspoken secret – it is well known that rape occurs within combat zones and occupied territories, but†¦show more content†¦After she was seized, she had been raped multiple times not only because of her beauty, but also because â€Å"she had been sleeping with Tutsis† which therefore meant that she could sleep wit h the Hutu as well (Mullins 726). The woman had been raped in front of four Interhamwe soldiers as well as a large group of refugees. In the chaos after of the rape by Musema, the woman was ordered to turn over from her stomach to her back and raped by multiple soldiers in turns. Her breast was cut off by one of the soldiers, which they tried to make her child eat (Mullins 726-727). The violence and chaos allowed for the pre-existing animosities to turn into the crime of rape. The act, though isolated, was obviously meant directed towards the entire Tutsi population as a whole. Alfred Musema was a man who often engaged in these opportunistic rapes, which were single episode events (Mullins 726). During the Rwandan genocide, some rapes occurred recurrently throughout a timespan. â€Å"Sexual enslavements occurred when a woman was detained, typically in the house of an Interhamwe, and subjected to repeated sexual assaults over a period of days,† (Mullins 727). These kinds of rapes belong in their own category because of the added element of confinement and intent to continually rape and therefore, harm. An Interhamwe soldier named Rafiki, personally sought out one Tutsi woman whom he hadShow MoreRelated Roots of the Rwandan Genocide1739 Words   |  7 PagesOn April 6, 1994, Rwanda experienced a period of great turmoil as thousands of people fell victim to the horrors of the Rwandan genocide. The main targets of the genocide were Tutsis and Hutu moderates. Though the main cause of the genocide was a conflict between two ethnicities, the genocide was also fueled by political factors and social conditions. Rwanda is the smallest sub-Saharan country with a population of about 7 million inhabitants. Although the indigenous peoples of Rwanda are the TwaRead MorePropaganda Spewed From The Capital998 Words   |  4 Pagestwo years leading up to April 6, 1994, propaganda spewed from the capital. 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